Hello,
My name is David Nguyen. I am from Garden Grove, California. On November 19, 2004, I was driving southbound on the I-710 when I was pulled over by a California Highway Patrolman. As it turns out, someone stole my sticker from my license plate and the officer issued me a fixing ticket. The court appearance was scheduled for January 21, 2005. As luck would have it, my vehicle broke down and I was unable to bring it my car to the CHP’s local office for inspection. Without this inspection, I was unable to go to court to show them that I had fixed the problem.
A couple of months have passed until I finally get it fixed. I show up to court on March 25, 2005 to show proof that the vehicle has been inspected. The court dismissed the fixing ticket. However, the court also added another charge; Failure to Appear. The commissioner asked how I wanted to plea. I explained to the commissioner that I wasn’t able to make it to court. He retorted, “YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED US.” I asked the commissioner how much the fine was. The commissioner told me he didn’t know and I would have to ask the clerk for that information. Then the commissioner asked me again, "How do you want to plea". Feeling pressured and not completely understanding my rights, I plead guilty.
Now I’ve received several of FTA’s before. Usually, the judge dismisses it. I figured they would only fine me $25 (no more than $100) and set me on my way. This is why I plead guilty. To my dissatisfaction, I later found out that the fine was $500.00. This is unfair. The commissioner should have warned me of this hefty fine. In every traffic court that I’ve been to, I’ve always been warned of the monetary fines, even if they are miniscule. This fine however is pretty steep considering it’s only a FTA.
To make matters even worst, I’ve recently tried to call in to ask for an extension. Apparently, the officer wrote the wrong number on my ticket. The number he gave me wasn’t for the court, it was for social services. Then I figured I just go on the internet for the number to the clerks office. After making a few phone calls, I finally get a hold of the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s office and asked them if they knew the number to the clerk’s office. The public defender’s office informed me that the court clerk didn’t have a number. The only way to get a hold of them is to come in. I thought to myself, now that’s redundant! How could the commissioner suggest I call in when he knows the clerk doesn’t have a phone number?
Even if I had attempted to call before the court appearances, I would have ran into the same situation. This is unfair to the people of California. They are making people pay outrageous fines for something they have no control over.
WHY I’M SO MAD:
-- There is no way of getting in contact with the court to reschedule your appointment.
-- The commissioner should have warned all the defendants what kind of fines they were facing.
Why I believe this constitutes for a class action lawsuit:
There are other defendants that faced the same consequences as I did that same day. There may be thousands of defendants who have faced the same unfairness that I have within the Compton Courts; thousands of defendants who have tried to contact the court to have their cases rescheduled only to come to a dead end; thousands of defendants who weren’t informed of the consequences.
It is our right to know what kind of consequences we may be facing when pleading guilty. Please let me know if I have a case. If not, sorry to have wasted your time.
Regards
David
My name is David Nguyen. I am from Garden Grove, California. On November 19, 2004, I was driving southbound on the I-710 when I was pulled over by a California Highway Patrolman. As it turns out, someone stole my sticker from my license plate and the officer issued me a fixing ticket. The court appearance was scheduled for January 21, 2005. As luck would have it, my vehicle broke down and I was unable to bring it my car to the CHP’s local office for inspection. Without this inspection, I was unable to go to court to show them that I had fixed the problem.
A couple of months have passed until I finally get it fixed. I show up to court on March 25, 2005 to show proof that the vehicle has been inspected. The court dismissed the fixing ticket. However, the court also added another charge; Failure to Appear. The commissioner asked how I wanted to plea. I explained to the commissioner that I wasn’t able to make it to court. He retorted, “YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED US.” I asked the commissioner how much the fine was. The commissioner told me he didn’t know and I would have to ask the clerk for that information. Then the commissioner asked me again, "How do you want to plea". Feeling pressured and not completely understanding my rights, I plead guilty.
Now I’ve received several of FTA’s before. Usually, the judge dismisses it. I figured they would only fine me $25 (no more than $100) and set me on my way. This is why I plead guilty. To my dissatisfaction, I later found out that the fine was $500.00. This is unfair. The commissioner should have warned me of this hefty fine. In every traffic court that I’ve been to, I’ve always been warned of the monetary fines, even if they are miniscule. This fine however is pretty steep considering it’s only a FTA.
To make matters even worst, I’ve recently tried to call in to ask for an extension. Apparently, the officer wrote the wrong number on my ticket. The number he gave me wasn’t for the court, it was for social services. Then I figured I just go on the internet for the number to the clerks office. After making a few phone calls, I finally get a hold of the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s office and asked them if they knew the number to the clerk’s office. The public defender’s office informed me that the court clerk didn’t have a number. The only way to get a hold of them is to come in. I thought to myself, now that’s redundant! How could the commissioner suggest I call in when he knows the clerk doesn’t have a phone number?
Even if I had attempted to call before the court appearances, I would have ran into the same situation. This is unfair to the people of California. They are making people pay outrageous fines for something they have no control over.
WHY I’M SO MAD:
-- There is no way of getting in contact with the court to reschedule your appointment.
-- The commissioner should have warned all the defendants what kind of fines they were facing.
Why I believe this constitutes for a class action lawsuit:
There are other defendants that faced the same consequences as I did that same day. There may be thousands of defendants who have faced the same unfairness that I have within the Compton Courts; thousands of defendants who have tried to contact the court to have their cases rescheduled only to come to a dead end; thousands of defendants who weren’t informed of the consequences.
It is our right to know what kind of consequences we may be facing when pleading guilty. Please let me know if I have a case. If not, sorry to have wasted your time.
Regards
David